One of the most true things I know in life is that people will see what they want to see.
If you want to be negative today, you can use numbers like 33 or 5-15.
If you want to be positive, you see that 33 a little differently, and tack the word "experience" onto the 5-15 mark in Oakland.
Either way, as the 2008 season is officially put to bed and all Vol fans turn towards 2009 with literally the longest offseason in program history in front of us, we have to realize a couple of things.
1.) Putting Lane Kiffin over to the side for a moment, wasn't 2008 as bad as it's ever going to get in many ways to be a Tennessee Vol?
A team with championship expectations went 5-7. The games they won were against UAB, Northern Illinois, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky—nothing you'd write home about. The Vols fielded the worst offense in the modern history of the program that was literally unwatchable for many who just stopped coming to Neyland Stadium.
A Tennessee legend was painfully forced out after 35 years of service to his university, and a head coaching career that included a National Championship.
And Saturday night, one year after we were there in the Georgia Dome, the SEC Championship Game will feature No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida, winner goes to the BCS National Championship Game.
This season has been in the depths of despair.
Three weeks ago the downward spiral stopped, at some point during the off week between the loss to Wyoming and the season ending wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Beating our annual whipping posts doesn't signal that everything's going to be alright, but it certainly didn't make it worse.
And seeing Phillip Fulmer exit the field victorious—and with a smile on his face—helped make things more OK, at least for me.
We can all agree that 2008 was a disaster. And I will probably go my whole life without seeing a more difficult season on a holistic level than this one for the University of Tennessee. I certainly hope so.
2.) Understand that this makes life very much easier for Lane Kiffin.
You'll see what you want to see. If you loved watching Kiffin channel Jim Tressel in the press conference today by talking about beating Florida next year (and astute fans will remember that Tressel's Buckeyes went 6-6 in his first season...but did beat Michigan. And then won the National Championship the next year. I'm just saying.)—if you enjoyed the press conference, if you wanna get all "There's gonna be CHANGE!" crazy the way many have experience in doing from early November, if you're already talking yourself into an instant turnaround whether you hated Phillip Fulmer or not...
...remember that Dave Clawson and Buzz Peterson won the press conference too. Then remember that the Clawfense was built up from that day until it hit the field in Los Angeles. Then remember where we are now.
The press conference is meaningless in September. And September is what counts.
The only thing I remember about Bruce Pearl's press conference was him saying that a number of guys had walked thru that door in the last few years and walked out 3-4 years later because they didn't get it done, and that if h
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about 1 month ago
I really hope it works out for Tennessee. I liked Kiffin as the Raiders coach, just Al Davis didn't. If the rumors hold true and he brings in his dad to coach defense and Norm Chow to coach offense, the pieces are in place in theory to get the job done. He needs to have a decent recruiting class and keep a select few players, while cleaning house of the program killers.
It may only get a little bit better next season:
2009 Tennessee Football Schedule
Western Kentucky W
UCLA W/L
At Florida L
OHIO UNIVERSITY W
AUBURN W/L
GEORGIA W/L
At Alabama L
SOUTH CAROLINA W/L
MEMPHIS W
At Ole Miss L
VANDERBILT W/L
At Kentucky W/L
At Best: 9-3 At Worst: 3-9 Probable: 6-6
from about 1 month ago
I'd be flat out shocked if Norm Chow came here. The name you're more likely to see if a bigtime offensive coordinator comes with Kiffin is Bill Callahan, but Kiffin made it clear in the press conference yesterday that it would take someone he trusted completely to move the playcalling duties away from him.
As far as "program killers", I think the thing everyone is most excited about is open competition - one of the biggest knocks on Fulmer was that he favored seniority over talent, so it appears that won't be the case now and everyone should have their shot at the field in spring practice. That, to me, should help eliminate any off-field distractions (which Tennessee hasn't had since Britton Colquitt's alcohol-related incident earlier this year).
What's most important for Kiffin next year is to win the games he's supposed to win (WKU, Ohio, Memphis, Vandy, Kentucky), beat UCLA to get that first big one, and then get at least two from the six big conference games. Part of Fulmer's problem this year was that he never got one big win in there anywhere to stop the snowball from rolling downhill - Kiffin needs to beat two of Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Ole Miss. Doing all that puts Tennessee at 8-4, which we'd all take over 5-7. It's not that he's going to get fired if he doesn't, it's just that's the most realistic step towards improvement I can see right now. I think the margin of error in the SEC next season will continue to be thin.
about 1 month ago
Will, I really enjoy your writing. Too bad I hate your team so much.
As always, though, this is balanced, honest, and well put together. Awesome job.
I want Kiffin to do well, but I just don't see it. He'll definitely swing some big recruits and upset some teams along the way, but I can't see him bringing the Vols back to the SEC Championship game any time soon.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Tim. I'm glad someone still hates us.
I think next year everyone else should just get used to Florida and Alabama playing in Atlanta, especially if Georgia loses Stafford/Moreno. But I do think the opportunity is there for Tennessee to be more than competitive in 2010, when both those teams come back to Knoxville and Kiffin will have had time to get his feet set. If he doesn't have the Vols back in the SEC East race by then, it'll put lots of pressure on him for 2011 - three years appears to be the buy-or-sell shelf life on new coaches in the SEC, plus the Vols have won the East every three years exactly since 1998.
Again, to steal from Bruce Pearl, new coaches have to win all the games they're supposed to win, and get some of the other ones along the way. I think he needs 8-4 next season to set the tone...right now though, Vol fans would just take a competent offense and a competitive product. And until the quarterback situation resolves itself, it's going to continue to be an exercise in frustration and patience.
about 1 month ago
I personaly dont think you can gage HIS success within the program on how many games he wins next year, or how soon we play in SEC champ games. I think it goes much deeper than how many wins or lossed he accures in the first two years. It's going to take time. The question is: where is our tolerance going to be? The reality is in this conference there is not a lot of paitence and slack going to be cut. I hope he can turn the program around and I think he can. It is going to take a couple of recruiting classes so he can get the guys that can run HIS offense and a couple seasons to get the right staff that he wants in place as well.
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